Sensational Shadab Khan scripts one-wicket thriller for Pakistan

On Thursday, England failed to defend 429. Today, they managed to fumble the defence of a run-chase in even more spectacular circumstances.

A unbeaten century from Shadab Khan led Pakistan to a scarcely believable one-wicket win that books their place in the Tri-Series final, having added 89 runs for the tenth wicket, a record in successful ODI run-chases. At 154 for 9, such thoughts were inconceivable, and somehow, Shadab steered them towards the unthinkable.

The final runs, a lash back past debutant Henry Crocombe, might have come off Haris Rauf's bat, but despite the true grit of his unbeaten 7 from 19 balls, this was as close to a single-handed effort from Shadab as they come.

England had done their job, to the extent that a full-house Gaddafi Stadium had largely emptied out by the time the ninth wicket fell. All that remained were the last rites, and when Shadab began to strike a few carefree blows, they were the shots of a man who was aware the cause had been long lost.

Slowly, however, the tension seemed to seep back into the contest. Shadab was hitting the ball exceptionally cleanly, and the game settled into a pattern that England could not break. He found a boundary or two each over, and managed to turn the strike over to Haris for the final ball or two. This routine somehow lasted right through to the manic end, almost without exception.

England were one ball away for 80 balls, but that one ball never seemed close to coming. Except, of course, on that one occasion. With Shadab on 97, having just slog swept Gus Atkinson into the Imran Khan stand, he missed a straight full toss that thudded into his front pad, He smashed the ground with his bat in unadulterated rage before the umpire's finger even went up, and as he mechanically went up for review, Joe Root and the English players surrounded him in commiserations.

But against all odds, and the evidence of everyone's lying eyes, UltraEdge found the ball had somehow kissed the very outside of his inside-edge on its way through. Shadab celebrated with the disbelief of a man whose lottery numbers have come up, because this felt about just as likely. Pakistan got back to chasing the 21 more they needed, but now, they did so confident fate appeared to be on their side.

England took one last gamble when they brought the field up for the final ball of an over, with nine to win, to flush Rauf back onto strike. Shadab responded by lofting Atkinson for six over mid-off, trusting Rauf on one final occasion. When Crocombe sent down a full delivery, the hot-blooded Rauf, fired up after a recent flashpoint with Will Jacks that had needed Root to play peacemaker, was done holding back. He slapped it back to Crocombe, who desperately stuck a hand out, into which the ball did not nestle. It raced away down the ground, with Pakistan's players and support staff racing the other way to join Shadab and Rauf's wild celebrations.

All of this seemed to have happened on a different planet to the rest of the game. When Pakistan were set 242 for victory, it looked a comfortable chase, only for Atkinson to set the tone early for England. He dispensed with the struggling Fakhar Zaman early, and debutant Crocombe got off the mark at Saim Ayub's expense.

But the crowd-silencer was to follow. Gaddafi Stadium had been declared a full house early, but was more than two-thirds empty when the game began, and gradually began to fill up through the England innings. By the time Babar Azam walked out at No.3, it was rammed to capacity, and roared in unison with he unfurled a regal straight drive back past Atkinson for four.

But Atkinson had the last laugh, dragging his length back slightly and seaming the ball back in. Babar tried the same shot, but made no contact as it nipped through bat and pad and knocked off stump back.

Pakistan's batting strength of late has been the middle order, and after a brief cameo from Saad Baig, Salman Agha and Hasan Nawaz began rebuilding. The run rate wasn't as pressing a concern, but it did not stop Nawaz from attempting a heave across the line to Liam Dawson after a sustained period of English pressure. It flew straight up for Brook to take the catch, but the captain's bigger contribution lay just around the corner.

Jamie Overton targeted Arafat Minhas' hips from around the wicket, with Root positioned midway between short leg and short fine leg. It was precisely in that region that Minhas attempted to fend the delivery off only to perfectly pick him out, and reduce Pakistan to 103 for six.

Overton and Dawson continued to suffocate Pakistan's last recognised batting pair. Salman and Shadab could do little to revert any pressure back to England. Dawson in particular frustrated the right-handers with a fourth-stump line from around the wicket, occasionally tossing one up for temptation. It proved too much to resist for Salman eventually, who telegraphed a dance down the wicket early enough to allow the bowler to drag his length back, leading to a slog down long-off's throat.

It looked very much like the last rites, and most of Gaddafi began to saunter out to beat the traffic, even if they would miss what, at the time, appeared doomed resistance from Shadab. Every single one of them will wish they hadn't, and many will doubtless claim they didn't.

England only had something worthy of defending thanks to a masterfully composed century from Ben Duckett, who survived the bedlam of the first ten overs, in which Shaheen Shah Afridi ripped through England's top-order.

Pakistan, clad in resplendent pink to mark Breast Cancer Awareness Day, got the rub of the green as they won their first toss of the series and inserted England. Suddenly it was like the good old times, with Afridi striking in the first over, inducing the in-form Tom Banton into a tame scoop to short cover, bringing up 150 ODI wickets. The following over, Root fell in uncharacteristically soft fashion, slicing Afridi to backward point as Saim Ayub dug out a sharp low catch.

But the crisis klaxon rang with Brook's clumsy run-out, when he took off for a risky second, betting against Razaullah's rocket arm. He wasn't aided by a little slip on the fresh grass, and an excellent throw caught him well short of his crease. When Jordan Cox angled Afridi to first slip after a brief, stuttering innings, England were four down for 53, with a massive rebuilding job on their hands.

It was a job that Sam Curran and Duckett took on with a steely determination, adding 92 for the fifth wicket. It took the reintroduction of Afridi to finally break the stand. Afridi had perhaps been guilty of turning to spin too soon, and when he peppered Curran with the short ball, that became even more obvious. Curran's discomfort with that length saw him hole out, and Pakistan had an opening.

Duckett still held Pakistan at bay, and brought up a hundred with drive down the ground to Minhas who had, somewhat curiously, been held back till the 29th over. However, Minhas has a much superior record bowling to left-handers, and accounted for Duckett in the following over, a top-edge looping up to Salman . He made short work of Overton, while Razaullah cleaned up Dawson with an excellent catch off his own bowling.

Atkinson gamely added 40 runs for the final wicket, and it looked like that would be the difference maker after all. In the end, though, it was a different lower-order batter, and a different tenth-wicket partnership, that took Pakistan to a victory that will take pride of place in their memories and their history. For England, rock-bottom in the Tri-Series standings after three increasingly traumatic losses, it's going to take a miracle to now scrape into the final